Tramp Art

Tramp art is a woodworking style popularized in the late 1800s and early 1900s characterized by the notch carving and layering (pyramiding) of many small pieces of wood for decorating a variety of objects.   Recycled wood from  cigar boxes was typically used.  Much of the folk art of this period was made from scrounged materials. It is widely held that tramp art evolved from folk art chip carving traditions. The tramp art style is thought to have come from Germany & Scandinavia  though there is no conclusive research documenting this claim. The craft was practiced and can be found in all of the industrialized nations of the early 1900s.